If the recent woes of GameStop and the monthly charts didn’t make it clear, last year wasn’t great for the video game industry.

That certainly doesn’t mean that gamers weren’t gaming, but traditionally, fewer games are sold and hardware sales just fall off a cliff in the year before a wave of new consoles launch.

According to the NPD Group, overall sales for the entire video game category in December — including hardware, software, and accessories — was $3 billion, a 15% decline from 2018. In terms of overall software sales, December’s $1.1 billion was a 13% decrease from the same period in 2018. For the year, total spending across the entire video game category was $14.6 billion, a 13% decline from 2018. Software sales slid 9% to $6.6 billion.

As for what people were playing? The top 20 games of last year were a mixed bag that was dominated by some big franchises.

Top 20 Video Games of 2019

  1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
  2. NBA 2K20
  3. Madden NFL 20
  4. Borderlands 3
  5. Mortal Kombat 11
  6. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
  7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  8. Kingdom Hearts III
  9. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
  10. Mario Kart 8
  11. Grand Theft Auto V
  12. Red Dead Redemption II
  13. Minecraft
  14. FIFA 20
  15. Anthem
  16. Pokémon Sword
  17. Resident Evil 2 (2019)
  18. Luigi’s Mansion 3
  19. Days Gone
  20. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

Looking ahead, the gaming industry should see a major upswing later this year with E3 this summer and the releases of the Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 happening this fall.

Photo: Electronic Arts

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

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